Nonstop flight route between Mmabatho, South Africa and Tonopah, Nevada, United States:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from MBD to XSD:
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- About this route
- MBD Airport Information
- XSD Airport Information
- Facts about MBD
- Facts about XSD
- Map of Nearest Airports to MBD
- List of Nearest Airports to MBD
- Map of Furthest Airports from MBD
- List of Furthest Airports from MBD
- Map of Nearest Airports to XSD
- List of Nearest Airports to XSD
- Map of Furthest Airports from XSD
- List of Furthest Airports from XSD
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Mafikeng Airport (MBD), Mmabatho, South Africa and Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD), Tonopah, Nevada, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,093 miles (or 16,244 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Mafikeng Airport and Tonopah Test Range Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Mafikeng Airport and Tonopah Test Range Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | MBD / FAMM |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Mmabatho, South Africa |
GPS Coordinates: | 25°48'27"S by 25°32'39"E |
Area Served: | Mafikeng, South Africa |
Operator/Owner: | Government |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4181 feet (1,274 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from MBD |
More Information: | MBD Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | XSD / KTNX |
Airport Name: | Tonopah Test Range Airport |
Location: | Tonopah, Nevada, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°47'40"N by 116°46'42"W |
View all routes: | Routes from XSD |
More Information: | XSD Maps & Info |
Facts about Mafikeng Airport (MBD):
- Because of Mafikeng Airport's high elevation of 4,181 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MBD. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MBD a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- In addition to being known as "Mafikeng Airport", another name for MBD is "Mmabatho Airport".
- The furthest airport from Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Kalaupapa Airport (LUP), which is nearly antipodal to Mafikeng Airport (meaning Mafikeng Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Kalaupapa Airport), and is located 12,081 miles (19,443 kilometers) away in Kalaupapa, Hawaii, United States.
- The closest airport to Mafikeng Airport (MBD) is Lobatse Airport (LOQ), which is located 43 miles (70 kilometers) NNE of MBD.
- Mafikeng Airport (MBD) currently has only 1 runway.
Facts about Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD):
- The furthest airport from Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,207 miles (18,036 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
- The closest airport to Tonopah Test Range Airport (XSD) is Tonopah Airport (TPH), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NW of XSD.
- In addition, unconfirmed Soviet aircraft flown were MiG-25 Foxbat.
- The MiG-21 posed a major threat to Israeli Air Defenses as well as to American pilots over the skies of North Vietnam.
- It is known that the USAF continues a Foreign Materiel Acquisition/Exploitation program, although the extent of acquisitions and operations of that program is not available.
- None of the Soviet-designed aircraft at Tonopah flew in bad weather or at night.